January 10
Events *49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. * 236 - Saint Fabian begins his reign as a Catholic Pope. *1072 - Robert Guiscard conquers Palermo. *1475 - Stephen III of Moldavia defeats the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vaslui. *1645 - Archbishop William Laud is beheaded at the Tower of London *1776 - Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense. *1806 - Dutch settlers in Cape Town surrender to the British. *1810 - The marriage of Napoleon and Josephine is annulled. *1861 - American Civil War: Florida secedes from the Union. *1863 - The London Underground, the world's oldest underground railway, opens between London Paddington station and Farringdon station. *1870 - John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil. *1899 - Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity was founded. *1901 - The first great Texas oil gusher is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont. *1920 - The League of Nations holds its first meeting and ratifies the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I. *1922 - Arthur Griffith is elected President of the Irish Free State. *1923 - Lithuania seizes and annexes Memel. *1927 - The film Metropolis by Fritz Lang premieres. *1929 - Tintin, a comic book character created by Hergé, makes his debut. He went on to be published in over 200 million comic books in 40 languages. *1941 - Lend-Lease is introduced into the US Congress. * 1941 - World War II: The Greek army captures Kleisoura. *1946 - The first General Assembly of the United Nations opens in London. Fifty-one nations are represented. *1957 - Harold Macmillan becomes the prime minister of the United Kingdom. *1962 - Apollo Project: NASA announces plans to build the C-5 rocket booster. It became better known as the Saturn V moon rocket, which launched every Apollo moon mission. *1982 - The Catch - Dwight Clark of the San Francisco 49ers makes a leaping catch from Joe Montana with 58 seconds to play to defeat the Dallas Cowboys 28-27 in the NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park. *1984 - The US and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations after 117 years. *1989 - Cuban troops begin withdrawing from Angola. *1990 - Time Warner is formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. *1995 - The World Youth Day was held in the Philippines. *1999 - A large piece of the chalk cliff at Beachy Head collapses into the sea. *1999 - The HBO television series The Sopranos first aires. *2000 - America Online announces an agreement to buy Time Warner for $162 billion, the largest corporate merger in history. *2001 - Wikipedia starts as part of Nupedia. It becomes a separate site five days later. *2005 - A mudslide occurs in La Conchita, killing 10 people, injuring many more and closing the Highway 101, the main coastal corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles, for 10 days. * 2005 - Eyre Peninsula Bushfire in South Australia kills nine and injures 113. Births *1480 - Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands (d. 1530) *1538 - Louis of Nassau, Dutch general (d. 1574) *1573 - Simon Marius, German astronomer (d. 1624) *1607 - Isaac Jogues, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1646) *1628 - George Villiers, English statesman (d. 1687) *1638 - Nicolas Steno, Danish geologist (d. 1686) *1644 - Louis François, French marshal (d. 1711) *1654 - Joshua Barnes, English scholar (d. 1712) *1702 - Johannes Zick, German fresco painter (d. 1762) *1715 - Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (d. 1775) *1721 - Johann Philipp Baratier, German scholar (d. 1740) *1729 - Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist (d. 1799) *1738 - Ethan Allen, American Revolution military leader (d. 1789) *1769 - Michel Ney, French marshal (d. 1815) *1797 - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer (d. 1848) *1810 - Jeremiah S. Black, American statesman (d. 1883) *1812 - Georg Hermann Nicolai, German architect (d. 1881) *1815 - Sir John Alexander Macdonald, First Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1891) *1828 - Herman Koeckemann, German Catholic prelate (d. 1892) *1840 - Louis Nazaire Bégin, French Canadian archbishop and cardinal (d. 1925) *1843 - Frank James, American outlaw (d. 1915) *1849 - Francisco Ferrer Guardia, Spanish free-thinker (d. 1909) *1836 - Charles Ingalls, father of Laura Ingalls Wilder (d. 1902) *1850 - John Wellborn Root, American architect (d. 1891) *1858 - Heinrich Zille, German illustrator and photographer (d. 1929) *1864 - Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia, son of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich (d. 1931) *1865 - Mary Ingalls, sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder (d. 1928) *1869 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (d. 1916) *1873 - George Orton, Canadian athlete (d. 1958) * 1873 - Jack O'Neill, Irish-born baseball player (d. 1935) *1883 - Francis X. Bushman, American actor (d. 1966) * 1883 - Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoi, Russian writer (d. 1945) *1887 - Robinson Jeffers, American poet (d. 1962) *1890 - Grigory Landsberg, Russian physicist (d. 1957) *1903 - Barbara Hepworth, British sculptor (d. 1975) * 1903 - Voldemar Väli, Estonian wrestler, Olympic medalist (d. 1997) * 1903 - Violet Wilkey, American actress (d. 1976) *1904 - Ray Bolger, American actor/dancer (d. 1987) *1908 - Paul Henreid, Austrian actor (d. 1993) * 1908 - Bernard Lee, British actor (d. 1981) *1912 - Maria Mandel, Camp leader at Auschwitz (d. 1948) *1913 - Gustáv Husák, President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1991) * 1913 - Mehmet Shehu, Albanian politician (d. 1981) *1914 - Yu Kuo-hwa, former Premier of Taiwan (d. 2000) *1916 - Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004) * 1916 - Don Metz, Canadian ice hockey player *1917 - Jerry Wexler, American record producer *1918 - Arthur Chung, President of Guyana *1920 - Max Patkin, American baseball player (d. 1999) * 1920 - Georges Marchal, French actor (d. 1997) *1921 - Rodger Ward, American race car driver (d. 2004) *1924 - Ludmilla Chiriaeff, Canadian ballet dancer, choreographer and director (Les Grands Ballets Canadiens) (d. 1996) * 1924 - Max Roach, American percussionist, drummer, and composer (d. 2007) *1927 - Gisele MacKenzie, Canadian singer (d. 2003) * 1927 - Johnnie Ray, American singer (d. 1990) * 1927 - Otto Stich, Swiss politician *1928 - Philip Levine, American poet *1930 - Roy Edward Disney, American film executive *1931 - Peter Barnes, English writer (d. 2004) *1932 - Elaine Devry, American actress *1933 - Anton Rogers, British actor *1934 - Leonid Kravchuk, Ukrainian politician *1935 - Ronnie Hawkins, American musician, pioneering Rock And Roll Rockabilly Hall of Fame * 1935 - Sherrill Milnes, American baritone *1936 - Stephen Ambrose, American historian (d. 2002) * 1936 - Robert Woodrow Wilson, American physicist and radio astronomer, Nobel laureate *1937 - Thomas Penfield Jackson, American judge *1938 - Donald Knuth, American mathematician and computer scientist * 1938 - Willie McCovey, American baseball player * 1938 - Frank Mahovlich, Canadian ice hockey player and Canadian Senator *1939 - William Levy, Dutch writer * 1939 - Sal Mineo, American actor (d. 1976) * 1939 - Bill Toomey, American athlete * 1939 - Scott McKenzie, American singer * 1939 - Jared Carter, American poet *1940 - Guy Chevrette, Quebec politician *1942 - Walter Hill, American film director *1943 - Jim Croce, American singer (d. 1973) *1944 - Frank Sinatra, American singer * 1944 - Rory Byrne, South African racing car designer * 1944 - Bernard Derome, French Canadian news presenter (Le Téléjournal) *1945 - Jennifer Moss, English Actress (d. 2006) * 1945 - Rod Stewart, Scottish singer * 1945 - Edward Wiskoski, American professional wrestler *1947 - Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac "2Pac" Shakur, member of the Black Panther Party *1948 - Donald Fagen, American keyboardist, singer and songwriter (Steely Dan) * 1948 - Teresa Graves, American actress and singer (d. 2002) * 1948 - Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist * 1948 - William Sanderson, American actor * 1948 - Bernard Thévenet, French cyclist *1949 - George Foreman, American boxer * 1949 - James Lapine, American stage director * 1949 - Linda Lovelace, American pornographic actress (d. 2002) *1952 - Scott Thurston, American musician, songwriter *1953 - Pat Benatar, American singer * 1953 - Dennis Cooper, American author * 1953 - Bobby Rahal, American race car driver and race team owner *1955 - Michael Schenker, German guitarist (UFO) *1956 - Shawn Colvin, American singer * 1956 - Antonio Muñoz Molina, Spanish writer * 1957 - Greg Walden, GOP U.S. House Of Representatives, Oregon *1958 - Anatoly Pisarenko, Soviet weightlifter * 1959 - Fran Walsh, New Zealand screenwriter *1960 - Benoît Pelletier, Quebec politician *1961 - Evan Handler, American actor * 1961 - Janet Jones, American actress; wife of Wayne Gretzky *1963 - Mark Pryor, American politician *1964 - Brad Roberts, Canadian singer (Crash Test Dummies) *1965 - Butch Hartman, American animator *1970 - Marcus Bagwell, American professional wrestler *1970 - Alisa Maric, Serbian-American chess grandmaster *1972 - Thomas Alsgaard, Norwegian cross-country skier * 1972 - Brian Lawler, American professional wrestler *1973 - Ryan Drummond, American voice actor * 1973 - Glenn Robinson, American basketball player *1974 - Steve Marlet, French footballer * 1974 - Hrithik Roshan, Indian actor * 1974 - Akari Kaida, Japanese composer *1975 - Jake Delhomme, American football player *1976 - Adam Kennedy, American baseball personality *1980 - Matt Roney, American baseball player *1981 - Brian Joo, Korean-American singer *1982 - Josh Ryan Evans, American actor (d. 2002) *1983 - Danilo Dirani, Brazilian racing driver Deaths * 681 - Pope Agatho * 976 - John I Tzimiskes, Greek Byzantine Emperor (b. 925) *1094 - Caliph Al-Mustansir of Cairo (b. 1029) *1276 - Pope Gregory X (bc. 1210) *1645 - William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1573) *1698 - Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont, French historian (b. 1637) *1707 - Philibert, French writer (b. 1621) *1754 - Edward Cave, English editor and publisher (b. 1691) *1761 - Edward Boscawen, British admiral (b. 1711) *1775 - Yemelyan Pugachev, Russian rebel *1777 - Spranger Barry, Irish actor (b. 1719) *1778 - Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist (b. 1707) *1794 - Georg Forster, German scientist and revolutionary (d. 1754) *1811 - Marie-Joseph Chénier, French poet (b. 1764) *1828 - François de Neufchâteau, French statesman and intellectual figure (b. 1750) *1833 - Adrien-Marie Legendre, French mathematician (b. 1752) *1851 - Karl Freiherr von Müffling, Prussian field marshal (b. 1775) *1862 - Samuel Colt, American inventor (b. 1814) *1866 - Pyotr Pletnyov, Russian poet (b. 1792) *1883 - Dr Samuel A. Mudd, American medical doctor (b. 1833) *1895 - Benjamin Godard, French composer (b. 1849) *1904 - Jean-Léon Gérôme, French painter and sculptor (b. 1824) *1905 - Kārlis Baumanis, Latvian composer (b. 1835) *1917 - William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, American frontiersman (b. 1846) *1934 - Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist accused of setting the Reichstag fire (b. 1909) *1941 - Frank Bridge, English composer (b. 1879) * 1941 - Sir John Lavery, Northern Irish artist (b. 1856) * 1941 - Joe Penner, Hungarian-born comedian and actor (b. 1904) *1949 - Erich von Drygalski, German geographer, geophysicist, and polar scientist (b. 1865) *1951 - Sinclair Lewis, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885) * 1951 - Yoshio Nishina, Japanese physicist (b. 1890) *1957 - Gabriela Mistral, Chilean writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889) *1960 - Jack Laviolette, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1879) *1961 - Dashiell Hammett, American writer (b. 1894) *1970 - Pavel Belyayev, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1925) *1971 - Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, French fashion designer (b. 1883) *1972 - Aksel Larsen, Danish politician (b. 1897) *1976 - Howlin' Wolf, American musician (b. 1910) *1978 - Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan journalist (b. 1924) *1980 - Hughie Critz, American baseball player (b. 1900) * 1980 - George Meany, American labor leader (b. 1894) * 1980 - Bo Rein, American college football coach (b. 1945) *1981 - Katherine Alexander, American actress (b. 1898) * 1981 - Richard Boone, American actor (b. 1917) * 1981 - Fawn M. Brodie, American historian (b. 1915) *1982 - Paul Lynde, American comedian (b. 1926) *1985 - Anton Karas, Austrian zither player and composer (b. 1906) *1986 - Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901) *1987 - Marion Hutton, American singer and actress (b. 1919) * 1987 - Sir David Robinson, British philanthropist and entrepreneur (b. 1904) *1989 - Herbert Morrison, American radio reporter (b. 1905) *1992 - Roberto Bonomi, Argentine racing driver (b. 1919) *1997 - Elspeth Huxley, British journalist and writer (b. 1907) * 1997 - Sheldon Leonard, American producer, actor, and director (b. 1907) * 1997 - Alexander R. Todd, Scottish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907) *2000 - Sam Jaffe, American producer (b. 1901) *2002 - W.A. Criswell, American (Baptist) preacher (b. 1909) *2004 - Spalding Gray, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1941) * 2004 - Alexandra Ripley, American author (b. 1934) *2005 - Gene Baylos, American comedian (b. 1906) * 2005 - Margherita Carosio, Italian soprano (b. 1908) * 2005 - Joséphine-Charlotte, Grandduchess of Luxembourg (b. 1927) * 2005 - Metropolitan Wasyly Fedak, primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (b. 1909) * 2005 - James Forman, American civil rights leader (b. 1928) * 2005 - Kalevi Hämäläinen, Finnish cross country skier (b. 1932) * 2005 - Erwin Hillier, British cinematographer (b. 1911) * 2005 - Gordon John "Jack" Horner, American sports journalist (b. 1912) *2007 - Carlo Ponti, Italian film producer (b. 1912) * 2007 - Bradford Washburn, American explorer (b. 1910) Holidays and observances *Roman Catholic Church **Peter Orseolo, Doge of Venice and saintAttwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4. *Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church: St. Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa. Brother of St. Basil the Great *Coptic Church: **Obadiah Holweck, F. G. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924. * Margaret Thatcher day in the Falkland Islands * January 10 References External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:January